The House of Representatives has summoned Minister of Finance and coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, and Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Yemi Cardoso over alleged violations of the Fiscal Responsibility Act and lapses flagged in the 2021 audit report of the Auditor-General of the Federation.
The officials were summoned in a letter on Friday, jointly signed by Bamidele Salam, chairman of the house committee on public accounts, and Ademorin Kuye, chairman of the committee on public assets.
Edun and Cardoso were asked to appear before a joint committee session on June 16 to clarify issues relating to the remittance of operating surpluses into the federation account.
The lawmakers said reports submitted by the fiscal responsibility commission (FRC) and the office of the auditor-general suggest that several ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) — including the CBN — failed to remit or under-remitted operating surpluses over the past six years in breach of financial regulations.
“These violations have negatively impacted the liquidity of the federal government and constitute a hindrance to the effective implementation of the budgets passed by parliament,” Salam said.
The joint committee said both the ministry and the apex bank have been given ample time to reconcile their accounts and present their positions before the final hearing is scheduled.
The lawmakers are also probing revelations in the auditor-general’s report indicating that several public assets fully paid for between 2011 and 2016 remain uncompleted or unused.
The committee said “some of these projects in Dutse, Abeokuta, and other locations have not been delivered more than a decade after they were awarded”.
